AL J

This show is morally irresponsible. Very bad people get away with very bad deeds. Violence is glorified. Lives are weighed and balanced against the most trivial and intangible things. I feel like if I had watched this show in the 90s, I would have loved all the anti-hero stuff... but they got it right back then. We rooted for the anti-hero because what they were up against was much worse, but in the end, the anti-hero got theirs too. That doesn't happen in this world. This show very much makes the argument that Jay's homicidal behavior is justified because of how he was treated as a kid. It does this by letting him leave, alive, with the money... and the only reason I stuck through the last three seasons was to see him finally get what he deserved. It never came. I'm left with the same feeling I had when I watched "Sons Of Anarchy" in that very bad behavior is glorified, murder is justified, and in the end it doesn't matter how many bodies you leave in your wake as long as you support the family. People don't understand satire, and this isn't even satire -- they play this very straight. People think Tony Montana was the hero of Scarface... they hang his poster... they idolize. And when they watch this, they do the same. This is well acted and has good family drama to entertain, but the denouement is morally irresponsible and a case can be made for how this show and shows like it have ruined America. The attitudes of the family in this and the greedy selfish nature of everyone was meant to be shown as fringe entertaining behavior... but I think this show normalizes that behavior. Take a look at our society now in 2025... is the behavior in this show really fringe anymore? The makers of this kind of story own some of that societal dysfunction.

People say we're "Idiocracy"... we're this movie. (posted in 2025 when we still could) This is a masterpiece of satire with it's finger firmly on the pulse of present American society and culture.

I watched all six available seasons of this... I have no idea why. At first it's an interesting look into a world that might not be too familiar... high school football and inner city living. But the characterization makes me hate everything I just witnessed. This show is a roller coaster of soap opera drama with highs and lows where people in one scene might be the good guy voice of reason and in the next scene be irrational and against any reason. It gets old, fast. It's cliche... when a big game is coming up... you know who is going to win... when they introduce a bad character, you know exactly what the bad character is going to do... it's highly predictable. But the very basic, borderline-teen drama wasn't what killed this for me... what did it is the characters. I liked one person in this. Only one person makes mistakes early as an evil person and comes back to redeem themselves through tireless introspection and self-less actions. Everyone else does at least one extremely awful thing and gets a total pass for it. To illustrate my point, I will focus on the twin sister character... Olivia Baker... she's awful... she's self-righteous, privileged, and does horrible things throughout this series and gets a pass every time because of how "special" she is. That's the main character, too. I think her exotic good looks do a LOT of heavy lifting for her character. She gleefully breaks up a functional relationship out of a sense of entitlement and we're supposed to go along with it, because she is the hot main character. This show wants to show that anyone can achieve anything special regardless of how hard their circumstance, yet it argues that these characters are born special and that great things aren't a matter of hard work and commitment, rather they are a thing of destiny. For supporting characters, it's all about the work they put in and earning that special status... but for the main characters, every line of dialog addressed to them tells them they are special even when they aren't putting in the work. Even when they are actively destroying the collective plan. Which brings me to another very sophomoric problem this show has... is that a lot of the drama is perpetuated by a normally rational person suddenly, irrationally, going against the group plan. Shows do this a lot... the Walking Dead was full of it... where everyone in the group comes to a solid plan that everyone agrees on, to deal with whatever... yet one person in the group "just has to do this thing..." that they can't tell anyone about, that contradicts the plan, the whole time telling everyone they are onboard with the plan. It's lame, artificial drama. Once and a while it's OK, but that's every situation in this show. There isn't a drama situation that occurs that isn't handled like this... the group comes up with a plan, but one person in the group just has to do things their own way, because they know more than the group. It always fails, and in the end they always apologize... but I never feel like anyone, (again, except one character), no one learns anything. I certainly didn't. This is a bad, soap opera. I watched it all simply because I have way too much time on my hands. It really is that.

Exceptional show with incredible acting and writing. I was not expecting this. When I tell people that "Bull Durham" is my favorite movie the reaction is "ugh, a baseball movie?" -- and that's when I argue that it takes place in a baseball world, but it's not about baseball. That's this show. It takes place in the wrestling world but it's not about wrestling... it's about the people and the relationships and commitment and loyalty and so much... life. I am not a wrestling fan, infact I had avoided this because of that subject... I'm sorry I did and I hope that this is one of the projects that finds a second life because the end of season two only left me wanting more. And I can't imagine I'm alone in that. Really good stories with soo many people to root for and against. This is story telling at it's best... it truly is. I even recommended this to my 72 year old mom.

I might be wrong in my interpretation here... this movie is vague about a few important details... I think they're important. If you don't want spoilers, just watch the movie. Then come back and read my review if you have any confusion. I loved it. SPOILERS COMING... The bully in this is obsessed with the lead girl's return to school from some unexplained absence... and they never once show Abigail's parents. She appears to be in her house alone... maybe emancipated. The way the end happened, I just think that Abigail's parent(s) did something to her, probably her father, and she turned them in. That's why when she returns the bully is so obsessed, because of her own home torment that she herself isn't strong enough to stand up to. The bully attacks Abigail because the bully girl is mad at herself. The words she chooses indicate the same sexual problems the bully faces. The reflect how the bully feels about herself and how she acts based on how she is treated at home... and more than likely how Abigail was also previously treated. They both require the affection and approval of the older man because of they both come from dysfunctional relationships with father figures. It's a cliche for a reason. But it's really well done here. And the teacher-student relation ship was complicated, he slipped and they had near adult chemistry... I don't want to excuse his behavior because he could have recognized and been clearly, sooner, but ultimately he was respectful and the story rightfully gives him a pass, doesn't throw away his life for an "almost" moment. They don't beat you over the head with what happened, you have to piece it together and it's really well written and presented. Early I thought the bullying was a little one dimensional and over the top mean... but by the end it was explained incredibly well. Especially if the dots connect like I think they do. I may have missed things and I might be completely off but as I read it, as I saw it, that's why the bully was obsessed and I think the final look they shared confirmed it. The smirk on Abigail's face wasn't "I beat you"... it was understanding. And that scene was a nice full-circle moment from the opening scene. Really smart film. Really surprised me.

This is a better show than your typical teen drama. I am not the audience for this and I stayed with it... great scenery... solid acting... and zero insecurities that plague all these teen dramas. What I mean is: No one in this is blackmailing anyone. There is no surprise murders. There is no secret affairs. No treasure hunt. No global catastrophe. No secret coven of witches. And when the drama can be solved by a single line of dialog it doesn't make us wait five episodes for the character to say it. This is a grounded, confident in what it wants to do, show. I enjoyed it. It held me. It's real people dealing with real stuff and some outstanding eye candy and surfing action. This is much better than what you're expecting it might be.

I usually write longer reviews and you would think something by Francis Ford Coppola would deserve in-depth analysis... but simply calling this a train wreck sums it up. Wow. It might be a masterpiece just because of how long I'll be mesmerizing at the layers of awful. This one might actually stick with me for a while...

This is an agenda driven movie with politics on it's sleeve. And I agree with the political side this movie represents... that said: this is insufferable and inaccessible. It wants to teach society to be better but it argues it in the worst possible ways. What I mean is... the main character multiple times argues on behalf of a better society. She uses her brother's birthday as an excuse to berate him about societal ills. She discusses misgendering. She is obviously and openly of the Greta Thunberg ilk... which again, I agree with the politics. What I don't like is how when her future self shows up and clearly the future is in distress... her future self drops hints about no more salmon, there are air raid sirens in the background of one of the talks, apparently in the future you can't have 3 kids... many hints at a bleaker future. How all this fits is... why is this socially responsible person who has just been given the ability to change future and past via time-travel communication using that power to micro-manage minor details of her personal dramas? She never asks about the sirens... doesn't ask about all the hints at a world gone wrong... doesn't get info to "do this" or "change that" that might send the world in a better direction... the character at her core is entirely selfish and ultimately unaware. It's a hard watch... the actress is really good... the character is hard to watch. I think the acting is great. The production was great to look at. The potential for a good story was there... just drop the socially responsible stuff entirely, or lean into it... but just mentioning it, with THIS character being THIS "responsible" and then ignoring the implications you've hinted at... I couldn't escape this thought in my head the entire time I watched: "...are you really going to lecture me about the state of the world while you use a potentially world altering super power to negotiate a summer fling?" And if you make a drinking game where you drink every time the main character misuses the word "literally" -- you will literally die.